Preparing for the Promised Land

It’s great to be with you at the beginning of this Spring 2022 semester at BYU-Idaho. This is the semester with mildest weather. Blizzards aren’t uncommon, but the snow melts faster. And, in general, class sizes are a bit smaller. Also, the surrounding countryside is well worth exploring; it is a showcase of the grandeur bestowed upon on this earth by Heavenly Father and our Savior.

Throughout recorded history, the world has been a place of beauty and wonders through the creative power of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Paradoxically, though, it is also one of natural disaster and human brutality, along with other woes. That is because we are here to be educated, tested, and proven in ways that were not possible in the preexistence.

Wilderness Sojourning

The challenge began in the Garden of Eden where Eve and Adam were presented with a fateful choice, which they made to the betterment of all who chose our Savior’s plan. As they were driven out of the garden, the sojourn of the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve began.

We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in the garden, but we are sure that the children of Israel served 400 years of bondage in Egypt under the pharaohs. They made bricks from clay and straw, only hoping to stay alive and raise posterity.

Deliverance finally came via the Passover and the parting of the Red Sea. However, the children of Israel complained of having only manna and no flesh to eat. They longed for Egypt when they might have qualified to inhabit a land that flowed with milk and honey.[1] That meant a delay of 40 years to enter the promised land.

By comparison, Lehi and Nephi’s sojourn to their promised land was rapid, though not without challenges, including family mutiny and meteorological storms. Fortunately, Nephi’s steady flow of inspiration allowed for progress in taming the land and creating great cities, with temples akin to those of our day. This was foretold to Nephi in the wilderness of the Middle East. He recorded this assurance from the Lord:

The sojourns of the Saints under Joseph Smith and then Brigham Young were a match for the exodus from Egypt and Nephi’s crossing from the ancient world to the new one. From the time Joseph shared his First Vision with a minister, he was persecuted and driven from one gathering place to another, until the Saints were expelled from Nauvoo following the martyrdom. That left the temple unoccupied and ultimately devastated by earthquake and fire.

But the exodus across the plains was well-managed, initially by wagon train, then handcart, and subsequently the continental railroad. The pioneers began construction on the Salt Lake Temple in 1853, using oxen to haul mammoth blocks of granite 15 miles down steep, narrow Little Cottonwood Canyon and across the valley to the building site. This process was slow and dangerous, limiting progress.

Building halted entirely in 1858 when Johnston’s Army made a threatening expedition to Utah. Yet favorable political opinion and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 meant that granite could soon be taken to the temple site by rail, accelerating the construction process. Nonetheless, it would be another 23 years before the temple’s exterior and interior were completed. All told, the work took 40 years, nearly as long as the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel.

Sojourning in the COVID Wilderness

For the past two years, we members of the BYU-Idaho family, along with the citizens of surrounding communities, have been on a sojourn triggered by a pandemic. There is reason to hope that the danger has passed—for now. But, while keeping an eye on the pandemic, we have a valuable opportunity to learn and benefit from the events of the last two years.

Even at the beginning of that period, when classrooms temporarily closed, faculty members and information technology specialists pitched in around the clock in mostly self-managed shifts. Their innovations, in the form of new remote courses and enhanced hybrids, were the equivalent of educational manna. In addition, we were able to draw upon more than 300 second- and third-generation, high-quality online courses, an initiative launched in the early 2000s with leadership from Presidents Bednar and Clark and continuing guidance by CES Commissioner and former BYU-Idaho President Clark Gilbert.

The timing was providential. Even a few years ago, it would have been hard to react as quickly as our team members did. It was as though the necessary hardware, software, and course content had been custom ordered. The learning processes were different but mostly effective. Some of them were surprisingly good. We learned much in the educational “wilderness.”

But we also learned much about ourselves, individually and collectively. To discover and better understand the benefits of our sojourn, I have asked four of our colleagues to reflect on their experiences. They are student, Christian Lloyd; Student Well-being Managing Director, Kristie Lords; another student, Cassi Johnson; and faculty member, Joe Anderson.

Each of them has prepared to share personal experiences and insights. I suggested that they might touch one or more of the following: What have we learned? How can we better lead? How can we qualify for the promised land? Christian.

Christian Lloyd

When the initial quarantine began in March of 2020, I had just met with my stake president to finalize my return to finish the remaining year of my mission to Kansas. This was after a multiple month absence due to a couple of shoulder surgeries.

When I returned to my mission, I reluctantly adapted to virtual finding, teaching, and serving. However, my mission president would always remind us that “we would never go back to the way things were before.”

So, I ultimately decided to humble myself and accept these changes. As I began this process, I quickly began to see the truth in Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s words when he said, “That the recent pandemic may have been a ‘divine reset’ that could help us recalibrate our efforts to reach more people.”[3]

Even as I prepared to return home from my mission, we still had strict COVID-19 guidelines to follow. I was excited to return home and not have to worry about them anymore. But I quickly realized that BYU–Idaho’s policies were no less strict.

I had followed the mission guidelines religiously because I trusted the direction of my mission president and the leaders of the Church. However, I found myself irritated with these same guidelines after I arrived here, and I spent a lot of time thinking about them. After a while, I came to the following conclusion.

Wearing a mask and following the other guidelines was no worse than a minor inconvenience. Even if I didn’t think it would do any good, others did. If wearing a mask and social distancing was all it took to help others feel more comfortable coming to campus, then that was the least I could do. I also reasoned that I had committed to BYU–Idaho, and the Lord, that I would keep all the standards set by this institution, the same way I had when I committed to serving a mission.

Part of being human is not understanding why everything happens the way it does. Oftentimes our role is to simply trust that God has a plan and that He is lovingly invested in our lives. It is not our job to know everything right now. Our only responsibility is to do the best we can to follow the Savior and learn from what we experience.

I know the leaders of this university and the Church listen to the Savior’s voice and the direction of the Holy Ghost. I am grateful to be a part of an institution that is run through revelation. I know that God loves us and has a hand in each of our lives. I know this pandemic has been a trying time for all of us, but we can choose to learn from what we’ve experienced. I hope each of you will take some time to reflect on what you’ve learned in the past two years. You may be surprised how often the Savior walked alongside you, bearing you up and guiding you through. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Kristie Lords

The pandemic reaffirmed to me that people—we, us, you—are inherently good, and we need each other. The world came to a halt in March of 2020. Students, including many of you, left campus housing and went home to wait and see what would come. Some students could not get home because of borders closing or other logistical matters out of their control.

Imagine you are one of the students still on campus and alone in your apartment. The stores are closed and, if you remember, toilet paper became a scarce resource. Many students bought food and cooked together to save money. But that collaboration couldn’t last for long. What do you do? How will you eat? Your family is so far away.

I’ll tell you, I witnessed magic. Not the magic of illusions or misdirection, but the magic of people ministering one by one.

As the pandemic made its way across the world, BYU-Idaho was required to close, and most employees began working remotely. But Food Services? Not so much. They went into extra innings. The Director of Food Services, Todd Huchendorf, assembled his team, and they got to work. In addition to their daily tasks, they prepared, packaged, and delivered over 152,000 meals at no cost to our students.

If you had COVID or were in quarantine, Student Life organized volunteers to deliver these meals to your apartments. Solutions Manager Karl Karstad developed a program seemingly overnight, one that allowed the university to assist those in quarantine and extend support with tutoring, mental health counseling, academic advising, notifying your instructors that you were in quarantine, peer mentors if you were feeling lonely or disconnected, and meals as needed.

In the Kimball Building on the second floor there is a plaque with a quote from President Spencer W. Kimball. It reads, “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.”[4] I testify that this is true. I watched a legion of people come together to ensure students had food, were cared for, and received appropriate support beyond the classroom. This did not solve the global crisis, but it did provide a semblance of peace when the world was in tumult and families and loved ones were time zones apart.

The pandemic magnified the importance of ministering one on one, stretching innovation when we didn’t think there was more stretch, and, most importantly, seeking heaven’s guidance, because even though we had never lived through a pandemic, heaven knew and heaven knows.

I am grateful to be a fellow pioneer with you, preparing to qualify for the promised land. It begins with learning all that we can, particularly by following President Russell M. Nelson. With that foundation of understanding, we can seek the Spirit’s guidance in leading our colleagues and other loved ones. Then, together, we can approach and ultimately qualify for the promised land. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Cassi Johnson

When the pandemic first hit, I had one week remaining on my mission in Iowa. I had completed my plan and had created what I thought was a seamless transition into life at home. However, in the middle of March, news spread that campus was shutting down and going to an entirely online, virtual format for the foreseeable future. All my plans for work, school, and life went out the door.

As I began my fourth semester at BYU-Idaho, I wasn’t able to see any of my friends and some of my family members, and my social life was put on pause. The life I had envisioned vanished right before my eyes.

I remember joining my Zoom classes in the basement of my parents’ house and wondering how in the world I ended up there. I thought this couldn’t be the end. I needed to find a way to connect with people during these uncertain times.

Although I was lost and confused, I quickly realized that most of my classmates and professors felt the same way. I was not alone. Students started meeting outside of class in Zoom rooms to work on assignments and projects and to study for tests. We all wanted to succeed but knew that we couldn’t do it without each other. Over the course of the semester, I met lifelong friends and turned what seemed like a dreadful semester into one I will always remember.

Semesters passed, and the university started getting into a sense of normalcy, with classrooms opening and people coming back to campus. I wanted to continue to grow friendships. I reached out to those around me and got involved with Student Support. I began volunteering and was placed on a council with my peers.

A small group of us were tasked to plan the first in-person Get Connected since the pandemic began in 2020. It was no small production. We began searching for hundreds of volunteers to serve with us in welcoming the Fall 2021 incoming freshman. I was reminded once again that I was not alone. People wanted to have face-to-face interaction and connect with one another. It was a unifying experience, and one that I will forever be grateful for.

BYU-Idaho is a university that is designed to be more than a place of educational learning. It is a place where we come together to learn, serve, and build relationships that will last a lifetime. The past two years have come with many struggles and hardships. But through professors, classmates, and the friends I have made here, I know that the trials we face together were no coincidence; they were meant to make us stronger. I feel so blessed to be in an environment that cherishes relationships and builds disciple leaders. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Joe Anderson

“And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness,”[5] is among my favorite scriptures. Nephi’s family struggled and suffered, even overcoming a mutiny, as President mentioned, but still lived consistent with the great plan of happiness. Though crucial to it, this plan does not guarantee constant happiness in this life.

For many, the last two years have been difficult, leaving deep scars: missionaries suddenly asked to end their service prematurely or reassigned to other areas, students denied the opportunity to go away to college, others had to resume their studies in online and remote formats. This is only the tip of what many we love and cherish have endured.

At times during the COVID lockdowns, mask mandates, and social distancing, we found ourselves murmuring like Laman and Lemuel, but we found blessings and lessons too. One lesson I have learned and relearned relates to the pursuit of happiness.

Too often we wish away our present good in pursuit of fairy tale futures, only to learn that we long for the past. My beautiful wife and I have six children, and I remember many nights when one or more of them woke us up for various reasons. Normally they visit my wife’s side of the bed when sick and my side when they need a snuggle. My sweetheart has even been on the wrong side of a vomiting child more than once!

At the time, I remember thinking that I couldn’t wait until they slept through the night so we could get a good night’s rest. Now that our oldest is 17, preparing to leave on a mission, and our youngest starts kindergarten this year, my perspective has changed.

When Adalyn wakes up needing Daddy to give her a snuggle, I relish those moments and wish that I had had the same perspective with each of our older kids.

Prior to COVID, modern society was moving at an ever-increasing rate, and our daily lives were perpetually hectic. It felt like a competition to see who had the longest to-do list. Thankfully, the early days of COVID forced us to slow down. It may not have seemed like a blessing to many, but my family benefited from time spent together, focusing on what really matters.

Our daughter, Grace, turned eight during the lockdown and was excited for her baptism. We were only authorized to have the service with one member of the bishopric to preside and not more than 10 family members. This temporary restriction allowed us to really focus on the covenant and ordinance of baptism with our daughter and was a simple, powerful, spiritual experience.

With COVID restrictions continuing to ease, we can sigh in relief. I don’t know that we have made it to the promised land, but we’re breathing much easier without masks! Now, let us not lose sight of the lessons learned and perspective gained through the forced simplification of our routines. May we strive to live after the manner of happiness. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

President Eyring

Thank you, Christian, Kristie, Cassie, and Joe. I am grateful to be a fellow pioneer with you, preparing to qualify for the promised land. It begins with learning all that we can, particularly by following our President Russell M. Nelson who has said: “How you deal with life's trials is part of the development of your faith. Strength comes when you remember that you have a divine nature, an inheritance of infinite worth.^”[6]

With that foundation of understanding, we can seek the Spirit’s guidance in leading our colleagues and other loved ones. Then, together, we can approach and ultimately qualify for the promised land. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

[1] ^{See Joshua 5:6.}

[2] ^{1 Nephi 17:13.}

[3] ^{Scott Taylor, “Elder Uchtdorf in Virtual Missionary Devotional: A Look at Pandemic's Impact, Using Technology and Making Disciples,” Church News, Aug. 13, 2020, https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-08-13/elder-uchtdorf-virtual-missionary-devotional-technology-covid-19-190692.}

[4] ^{Spencer W. Kimball, “President Kimball Speaks Out on Service to Others,” New Era, Apr. 1981.}

[5] ^{2 Nephi 5:27.}

[6] ^{Russell M. Nelson, “Face the Future with Faith,” Ensign, May 2011.}